On Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:49:13 -0800, Ron Wanttaja
wrote:

On Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:09:59 -0500, Sliker wrote:

They did test the BD-5, but to what extent I'm not sure. I used to
work at the airline with a guy that flew Jim Bede's DC-3 for him.

I'm guessing that was Les Berven, who Juan mentions in his posting. Berven came
to talk to our EAA Chapter 15-20 years back. I remember him being very positive
of the performance and handling of the aircraft, but of course he spoke of the
many engine failures he'd suffered.

IIRC, the flight testing was being performed with an eye towards eventual
certification, and Berven made a lot of flights. As far as I remember, nothing
really stood in the way handling-wise, but of course a certain level of engine
reliability is expected!

I didn't see the letter in Sport Aviation, but it sounds like the writer is
Harvey Swack, the designer of the Baby Great Lakes. I'm guessing a small, slow
biplane is a lot more tolerant of builder error than a BD-5.

Sounds like I'll have to force myself past the Cirrus on the cover... :-)

Ron Wanttaja

No it wasn't Les, it was a guy named J.B.Williams.